I'm Becky - a Northern Virginian who dreams of the country but could never *really* be far from a city. Minimalist. Yoga and nail polish lover. Bookworm. Miscarriage Survivor. Infertility Warrior. Prefers Etsy over the mall. Crazy in love with my husband. Inspired by living simply and intentionally. Firm believer in finding joy in life's little moments. Welcome!

How far along: 36 weeks - eight months and seriously in the home stretch! I'm going to do updates weekly now because I feel like I could "go" at any time!

How big is baby: In the past two weeks Lemon went from the size of a cantaloupe, to a honeydew melon, and is now the size of a head of romaine lettuce. And according to my ultrasound this morning he already weighs 5 and 1/2 pounds!

Anxious about: How much longer I'm going to be pregnant. I'm telling myself I really only have to get through two more weeks (38 weeks is technically full-term), and I want him to be fully ready with good lungs and everything, but I'm so ready to just meet him already! I've started a countdown on our chalkboard in the kitchen - it feels good to actively do something each morning.

Anticipating: Going to the hospital! This sounds weird but it's kind of fun not knowing when I'm going to go into labor. As long as my water doesn't break while I'm sitting at my desk at work (ha!) I'm good. I'm up a lot in the middle of the night so I told Ben I wouldn't be surprised if we have Lemon at like 4 in the morning - we'll see!

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: Still highly susceptible to suggestions, even while watching Netflix, but otherwise just eating a lot these days.Movement: Ohh, movement, how I love thee. Lemon is active during the day, but is most definitely a nighttime baby. Ben and I laugh as we're in bed because we'll see him moving and making parts of my stomach lopsided because of where he is!

The belly:Woah belly! I swear I get bigger every day! It's definitely hindering movement and making me more awkward, and sometimes just walking up a flight of stairs takes it out of me.

Miscellaneous: As excited as we're getting, I'm also pretty uncomfortable at this stage. Mid-day I feel hit by a truck tired, and nine times out of ten when I come home I just get in bed - not to sleep but just to rest for awhile. Also, if I sleep more then a couple hours at a time at night when I wake up, my bladder is so full it's physically painful to walk to the bathroom; I've been setting an alarm for an hour and a half after I go to sleep, and then waking myself up no more than every two hours afterwards. Most nights it works well but is also pretty exhausting.Things that made me laugh/cry: Finishing the nursery. There's one thing left to do (maybe putting a decal on one of the walls), but otherwise Lemon's room is ready for him and I love being in there. We were gifted so much of what's there I feel such a sense of love and community, I feel like my heart simply might burst with joy! (Pictures coming soon!)

I also love seeing Ben interact with Lemon. Whenever I'm leaving he always tells my belly bye, and is constantly talking to my stomach - and Lemon responds! I think he likes the sound of Ben's voice because sometimes when Ben starts talking and is on the other side of the room he'll start kicking and moving around. I can't wait to see how they are with each other once he's here!Best moment of the week: My 36-week appointment went well this morning, but the doctor wasn't
sure if Lemon had turned yet or not (at this point he should be head
down). Because he was in such a weird position when we last went in for monitoring, my doctor sent us to do an ultrasound this morning to confirm. He is head down (yay!) he's just up really high.
The ultrasound tech was so nice - she explained everything we were
seeing and even did some 4D pictures for us, which were incredible! The
one below is him sucking on his fingers - it was the sweetest thing to
watch him putting his hand in and out of his mouth throughout the
appointment! (Also, those cheeks? Oh my goodness!)

Excuse the quality - I snapped a picture of the picture with my phone!

Also, I had a moment of pure joy this past weekend. My cousin and I did a little shopping in the morning, I came home and took a nap, and then when I got up to run an errand I was looking at myself in the mirror and simply marveling at this whole experience. Yes I'm uncomfortable and tired and really ready to not be pregnant anymore, but Lemon is moving and growing and sometimes it makes me downright giddy! I was thinking about how it's going to be when he's here and how everything I'm imagining is probably going to be completely different, yet better, and for the first time since I found out I was pregnant, I didn't caveat that thought with "well, if everything still goes all right." I think I'm finally finding the joy in this pregnancy and I'm so so grateful.

11 comments:

I love the 4D photo! Those cheeks and that nose - so cute!!! I think those final weeks of pregnancy would be a little bit torturous as you are SO CLOSE but also SO UNCOMFORTABLE. I already get up 1-2 times a night to go to the bathroom so I can't even imagine what it will be like when i am pregnant! I really hope that you go into labor about 38 weeks!!

I was told 37 weeks was full term... Ha ha, can I change your countdown? Max is still voting for Lemon to come at 36 weeks, 2 days like he did haha. You look amazing and we all can't wait for Lemon to be here!

Do you have moments where you're like, "Omg, I have a baby in my belly ..." It's just so... wild and crazy sometimes! That last picture of him is so adorable and makes it so so so real! Cannot wait to see him SOON!

Hello. I stumbled upon your blog while searching for daily life blogs, which led me to the post of your list of the blogs you follow. Anyways, nice visiting. And cute lovely story of you and your husband...totally AWWW! I just found you for the first time, but congrats the expectancy of your new arrival.

The fact that you're waking yourself up every 1 1/2 - 2 hours is pretty darn good practice for those first few weeks (months?) of parenthood. Replace bathroom breaks with feedings and general fussiness and well, welcome to parenthood! I have really enjoyed watching you savor the good, bad and ugly of pregnancy, Becky. It's been such a journey for you and Ben - you two have a very special appreciation for where you are at this very moment in time.

Oh that photo is so so cool! So awesome to get a glimpse of what Lemon looks like! My coworker is starting to get really uncomfortable and done with being pregnant too. She actually isn't at work today since she started getting really crampy last night and was up all night. Hopefully a day at home resting helps her feel better because her baby boy needs to stay put for a couple more weeks too!